• You lack moral grounds to help Yahoo boys – Atiku tells Tinubu
• EFCC lacks power to meddle in states affairs – Agbakoba
• DSS denies court case, plot to arrest INEC chairman
• Wike charges new NDDC board to reject ‘politicians’ contracts’
• CSOs raise alarm over missing PVCs

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss:

You lack moral grounds to help Yahoo boys – Atiku tells Tinubu

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), claimed that Bola Tinubu, the candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC), lacks the moral character to reform Yahoo Boys.

In response to Tinubu’s claim that, if elected president, he will turn Yahoo Boys into IT gurus, Atiku stated his APC rival requires medical attention.

If Tinubu wins the presidential election in February, he has promised to establish a technology centre for the Yahoo guys.

The APC candidate pledged to establish technological and industrial hubs that would turn young people into tools for progress.

During a campaign event in Benin City, Edo State, Tinubu made this announcement.

In response, Atiku claimed that Tinubu lacked the foundation to reform the Yahoo Boys because of his baggage from the past.

Speaking via Phrank Shaibu, Atiku stated that Tinubu should first discuss his past before seeking to reform Yahoo Boys. Phrank Shaibu is Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication.

A statement by Shaibu reads partly: “Bola Tinubu, produced another comedy skit at the APC Presidential rally in Benin City on Thursday when he promised to turn ‘the so-called Yahoo boys in Edo State to “experts in manufacturing and creation of chips that din dasan dadauga.’

“Had it been he was addressing a Christian congregation we could have assumed that he was speaking in tongues but this was a campaign rally where he was supposed to have sold his candidacy to the millions of youths suffering from unemployment under the disease called the APC?

“Instead he elected to refer to the young people of Edo state as Yahoo boys and fraudsters.

“Tinubu’s daily gaffes are evidence that he has no business going to Aso Rock Presidential Villa but he should rather be seeking urgent medical attention.”

EFCC lacks power to meddle in states affairs – Agbakoba

Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), asserts that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, lacks constitutional authority to investigate the financial records of states.

This information was revealed by Agbakoba on Thursday in Lagos State.

He said that the National Assembly had not changed section 214(1) of the federal republic of Nigeria’s constitution, which establishes the Nigeria Police Force, to include the EFCC’s role.

“So the question is if the federal government creates the EFCC, can it then prosecute state offences?

“The Supreme Court, in many of its decisions, has held that federalism means two autonomous and independent governments and, if that is correct, the EFCC lacks the right to go to the state and examine their accounts,” he said.

DSS denies court case, plot to arrest INEC chairman

The Department of State Services (DSS) has denied instituting a litigation against the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu.

Prior to a potential arrest, the security agency is reported to have filed a lawsuit against the professor for allegedly failing to declare his assets.

The DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, claimed that the INEC Chairman was not the problem and blamed the misunderstanding on a newspaper.

The DSS noted that the media organisation “skewed what transpired in the court and reported it out of context”.

Afunanya expressed disapproval of the report, adding that what was published in its online version was different from the hard copy.

“The said report is misleading. It falsely left an impression that the Service went to Court against the INEC Chairman”, he noted.

The statement said the DSS is aware of the antics of mischievous elements who are desirous of fomenting the crisis, including creating controversies ahead of the general elections.

“One of their strategies is to subvert the efforts in ensuring peaceful coexistence. Another is a determination to overheat the polity and exploit the judiciary or undermine security and law enforcement agencies.”

The secret service warned such individuals and groups to desist from devious plans and advised all stakeholders to be vigilant and resist attempts to use them to thwart the law.

Wike charges new NDDC board to reject ‘politicians’ contracts’

Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, has asked the new Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board to break from tradition by awarding contracts to competent and experienced individuals rather than political contractors.

According to a statement by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, Wike delivered the advise when the new NDDC board members, led by its chairman, Lauretta Onochie, paid him a courtesy call at Government House, Port Harcourt, on Friday.

He said, “There are what we call regional developmental projects that can link up two states.

“Those are the kind of things NDDC should go for and give to competent contractors. Leave these political contractors alone. Leave all these portfolio contractors. You have come to my state and seen what I have done.”

CSOs raise alarm over missing PVCs

Barely 49 days to the 2023 general elections, a group of Civil Society Organisations on Friday, expressed concerns over the reports of missing Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, and the challenge of locating them.

The CSOs worried President Muhammadu Buhari must be prepared to conduct a free and fair election.

The organisations expressed their views during a press conference by the Focal Person of the Coalition of Nigerian Youth Groups, Maximilian Tashilani; the Convener of Coalition of Civil Society For Good Governance, Okpanachi Jacob; and chairman of Arewa Transformational Leaders, Yusuf Ibrahim.

They also raised concerns over the voter education carried out by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which, they said, needed to be improved.

The CSOs also warned the judiciary against the reckless granting of court orders, injunctions, and judgments.

Tashilani said, “From all indications, President Muhammadu Buhari is not only desirous of bequeathing the legacy of a free and fair election, he is also poised to ensure that all institutions responsible for delivering credible elections are genuinely independent.

“The difficulties voters undergo to collect their PVCs are unbearable. Aside from the challenges of locating one PVC, there are also reports of missing PVCs,” he said.